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WASHINGTON — AttorneyGeneral William P. Barr deliveredan extraordinary rebuke of Presi-dent Trump on Thursday, sayingthat his attacks on the Justice De-partment had made it “impossiblefor me to do my job” and that “I’mnot going to be bullied or influ-enced by anybody.”

Mr. Barr has been among thepresident’s most loyal allies anddenigrated by Democrats as noth-ing more than his personal lawyer,but he publicly challenged Mr.Trump in a way that no sitting cab-inet member has.

“Whether it’s Congress, news-paper editorial boards or the pres-ident, I’m going to do what I thinkis right,” Mr. Barr said in an inter-view with ABC News, echoingcomments he made a year ago athis confirmation hearing. “I can-not do my job here at the depart-ment with a constant backgroundcommentary that undercuts me.”

Mr. Barr’s remarks were aimedat containing the fallout from thedepartment’s botched handling ofits sentencing recommendationfor Mr. Trump’s longtime friendRoger J. Stone Jr., who was con-victed of seven felonies in a bid toobstruct a congressional investi-gation that threatened the presi-dent. After career prosecutors ini-

tially recommended a sentence ofseven to nine years in prison, Mr.Trump spent days attacking them,the department and the judge pre-siding over Mr. Stone’s case.

Such tweets “make it impossi-ble for me to do my job and to as-sure the courts and the prosecu-tors in the department that we’redoing our work with integrity,” Mr.Barr said.

He added, “It’s time to stop thetweeting about Department ofJustice criminal cases.”

The fallout from the Stoneepisode threatened to spin out ofcontrol after the four prosecutorson the case withdrew from it andMr. Trump widened his attacks onlaw enforcement, thrusting Mr.Barr into a full-blown crisis. Ca-reer prosecutors began to expressworry that their work could beused to settle political scores anddoubts that he could protect themfrom political interference.

The attorney general had beencontemplating how to respondsince he became aware of Mr.Trump’s attacks on the depart-ment, according to a person famil-iar with his thinking. Speaking upcould have put Mr. Barr at risk oflosing the backing of the presi-dent, but remaining silent would

BARR SAYS ATTACKS FROM TRUMP MAKE WORK ‘IMPOSSIBLE’

Rare Rebuke by a Sitting Cabinet Member— ‘I’m Not Going to Be Bullied’

By KATIE BENNER

Continued on Page A19

MIAMI — In a warehouse cov-ered in murals in the Design Dis-trict here, cater waiters servedwine and platters of Cuban sand-wiches, summer rolls and kosherpigs in a blanket. They wore allblack but for red, white and blueT-shirts reading “I Like MikeBloomberg.”

Before the candidate took thestage — set against an oversizepainting reading “Mike 2020” thata local artist had been paid thou-sands to produce in 36 hours — theformer mayor of Miami Beach,Philip Levine, introduced him.

“We both started from nothing,and we made a few bucks,” Mr. Le-vine said, proudly likening him-self to Michael R. Bloomberg, theformer New York City mayor whoannounced his run for president inNovember. “But he’s got more ze-ros at the end of his name than Ido.”

Mr. Bloomberg, the multi-billionaire behind Bloomberg L.P.,has poured hundreds of millions ofdollars into the race, paying tomake his voice omnipresent ontelevision and radio. He has de-ployed his corporation in serviceof his campaign, reassigning em-ployees from the various arms ofhis empire and recruiting newones with powerful financial in-

Cash and PerksFor Aides BuoyBloomberg Bid

By REBECCA R. RUIZ

Michael R. BloombergSHAWN POYNTER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A18

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Even be-fore the final results from NewHampshire showed Joseph R. Bi-den Jr. finishing a distant fifththere, the former vice presidenthad flown to South Carolina onTuesday night for a gathering ofenthusiastic supporters. A gospelchoir sang about salvation, a fit-ting choice for a candidate who iscounting on this state’s large blackelectorate to save his third try forthe White House.

“Up to now, we haven’t heardfrom the most committed constit-uency of the Democratic Party,the African-American communi-ty,” Mr. Biden told about 200 at-tendees, many of them black. Headded: “99.9 percent. That’s thepercentage of African-Americanvoters that have not yet had achance to vote in America.”

The ability to mobilize blacksupport in South Carolina, whichholds its primary on Feb. 29, andacross the South has long been thefoundation of Mr. Biden’s candi-dacy — a presumed advantagethat would highlight his capacityto forge a diverse coalition to takedown President Trump.

Yet as Mr. Biden looks to blackvoters to resurrect his candidacyafter defeats in both Iowa andNew Hampshire, cracks have ap-peared in that support, in somepolls and among influential localand national Democrats, who aresaying out loud what many haveprivately believed all along: thathe was a safe, familiar politicalharbor for them as much as an ob-ject of affection.

While Mr. Biden remains the fa-vorite among many state partyleaders, several South CarolinaDemocrats say that another can-didate, Tom Steyer, has become asignificant factor in the primaryrace here. Mr. Steyer, a billionairefrom California, has been ag-gressively courting black voters,

Biden, BankingOn Black Vote,

Has CompanyThis article is by Stephanie Saul,

Astead W. Herndon and JonathanMartin.

Continued on Page A16

When commuters spin the radiodial as they drive through KansasCity, Mo., these days, between thestrains of classic rock and countryhits they can tune in to somethingunexpected: Russian agitprop.

In January, Radio Sputnik, apropaganda arm of the Russiangovernment, started broadcast-ing on three Kansas City-area ra-dio stations during prime drivetimes, even sharing one fre-quency with a station rooted in thecity’s historic jazz district.

“Who needs a ridiculous RedDawn invasion,” a participant inone online forum wrote about thenew broadcasts.

“Your overlord, Mr. Putin, willbe addressing you soon, so it’sbest to prepare now,” anothercommenter wrote, referring toPresident Vladimir V. Putin ofRussia.

In the United States, talk radioon Sputnik covers the politicalspectrum from right to left, but theconstant backbeat is that Americais damaged goods.

Sputnik’s American hosts fol-low a standard talk radio format,riffing on the day’s headlines andbantering with guests and callers.They find much to dislike in Amer-ica, from the reporting on the coro-navirus epidemic to the impeach-ment of President Trump, andthey play on internal divisions aswell.

On a recent show, one host

On the Air in Kansas City: Russian PropagandaBy NEIL MacFARQUHAR For a Price, 3 Stations

Host Radio Sputnik

KCXL, a radio station near Kansas City, Mo., airs Radio Sputnik content during peak driving times.BARRETT EMKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A13

China’s leaders expanded amass roundup of people possiblysickened with the coronavirus onThursday, widening their dragnetwell beyond the epicenter of theoutbreak to at least two more cit-ies in what the government hascalled a “wartime” campaign tostamp out the epidemic.

But the campaign, first an-nounced last week in the city ofWuhan, already has been marredby chaotic conditions that haveisolated vulnerable patients with-out adequate care and, in somecases, left them alone to die.

The expansion of the decree to“round up everyone who shouldbe rounded up” in the Wuhan areaof central China has deepened thenation’s sense of anxiety.

In their zeal to execute theedict, officials in Wuhan, a me-tropolis of 11 million, have haphaz-ardly seized patients who havenot yet tested positive for the co-ronavirus, in some cases herdingthem onto buses with no protec-tive measures where they riskedinfection from others, their rela-tives said.

After that, patients have beensent to makeshift medical facili-ties that don’t provide the supportthey need to recover. With little tono dedicated medical staff onhand to help, some patients die.

One woman was abruptlycarted off to a quarantine facilityand prohibited from retrievingher supply of heart medication,her daughter-in-law said. A mansaid he was getting sicker andsicker in his hotel room, but therewere no doctors and he was not al-lowed to leave.

Another man placed in a make-shift shelter fell into a coma fortwo days, but his family said theycouldn’t get him admitted to a hos-pital. He died.

Despite the upheaval, the massroundup extended beyond Wuhanto include other cities in centralHubei Province that have been hithard by the outbreak. The state-run CCTV news broadcaster saidthe expanded area included thecities of Huanggang and Xiaogan.

A sudden spike in new casescould make the situation worse.Officials in Hubei Province an-nounced on Thursday that theyhad expanded the criteria for

CHINA EXPANDINGA VIRUS DRAGNET

Seizing Possible Patientsin 2 Additional Cities

By AMY QIN

A health worker checked a pedestrian for fever in Guangzhou on Thursday as China stepped up its campaign to halt an epidemic.ALEX PLAVEVSKI/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK

Continued on Page A8

WASHINGTON — In late Sep-tember, a plane carrying seniorIranian officials touched down inAbu Dhabi, the gleaming capital ofthe United Arab Emirates.

The Middle East had witnesseda summer of violence, and a meet-ing with the Iranians was part of aquiet strategy by Emirati leadersto defuse the tension. The smallbut powerful Persian Gulf nationwanted to broker a separate peace— avoiding violence that couldshatter its decades-long effort topresent itself as a modern, stableoasis in a volatile region.

But the meeting set off alarmsinside the White House, where of-

ficials learned about it only afterreading reports from Americanspy agencies. The Emirati govern-ment, a stalwart ally that had longpushed for a hawkish Americanapproach toward Iran, was in se-cret talks with Iranian officials.National Security Council officialsmet to discuss the implications: Aunited front against Iran — care-fully built by the Trump adminis-tration over more than two years— seemed to be crumbling.

The episode came in the midstof a nine-month period that shookup the United States’ already com-bustible relationship with Iran —beginning with the Trump admin-istration’s escalation of sanctionsand culminating with the two pow-ers in a direct military confronta-tion on the brink of wider andbloodier conflict.

The chess match continues,with little evidence that either hasa sense of the other’s next move,but with the prospect of an Ameri-can president newly constrainedon Iran policy. The Senate passed

For 9 Months, a U.S.-Iran Duel of Misjudgments

This article is by Mark Mazzetti,Ronen Bergman and Farnaz Fas-sihi.

Continued on Page A11

How Pressure TacticsPushed Adversaries

to Brink of War

WAR POWERS Senators passed aresolution to curtail the president’sability to attack Iran. PAGE A20

Germany commemorated 75 years sincethe Allied attack. But the milestone hastaken on new meaning. PAGE A7

INTERNATIONAL A4-11

How Dresden Looked in 1945President Trump’s rollback of Obama-era fuel economy rules may not beready until summer, if ever. PAGE A21

NATIONAL A12-22

Weaker Mileage Rules StallA show at MoMA confirms DorotheaLange’s place in the pantheon of Ameri-can photographers. Above, “TractoredOut, Childress County, Texas.” PAGE C13

WEEKEND ARTS C1-22

Images of Unsung Struggles

How would an agreement actuallywork? As a start, all sides are supposedto halt attacks for one week. PAGE A5

Questions on Taliban Peace Deal

A proposal in the State Senate to modifya new bail law has divided Democratsin one of Albany’s most bitterly foughtdebates. PAGE A25

NEW YORK A23, 25

Battling Over Bail Reform

Pat Connaughton of the MilwaukeeBucks is continuing a family tradition ofworking in real estate. PAGE B7

SPORTSFRIDAY B7-10

Building a Career and a Home

Virginia, newly dominated by Demo-crats, may broaden parole. Other statesare watching. PAGE A12

Giving More a Second Chance

In a victory for Amazon, a federal judgetold Microsoft to halt all activity on a$10 billion cloud-computing contract forthe Pentagon until the internet giant’slegal challenge was resolved. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

A Stop-Work Order on JEDI

An indictment for racketeering andconspiracy to steal trade secrets esca-lates the Trump administration’s pres-sure campaign against the Chinesetelecommunications giant. PAGE B1

New Charges Against Huawei

David Brooks PAGE A27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27Houston Astros players apologized forcheating, but insisted they earned the2017 World Series title. PAGE B7

Chastened but Still Champs

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,603 © 2020 The New York Times Company FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2020 Printed in Chicago $3.00

Sunny but very cold. Afternoon tem-peratures in the teens north and the30s south. Clear and cold tonight.Turning breezy and milder tomor-row. Weather map is on Page A24.

National Edition